


Off The Rails

by LittleSweetCheeks



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: F/M, Mention of Assault, Road Trip, Running Away, escaping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-06
Updated: 2018-01-06
Packaged: 2019-03-01 07:13:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 13
Words: 17,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13289754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleSweetCheeks/pseuds/LittleSweetCheeks
Summary: "It was time for me to make a change. Start fresh somewhere.So, I am."





	1. July

**Author's Note:**

> This story will have time jumps. The month of any section will be labelled so it can be followed. 
> 
> There are also mentions, very briefly, of a sexual assault. There are minimal details as I feel those things do not need to have graphic detail in order to be included. It is limited and only covers a couple paragraphs. Skipping those paragraphs does not detract from the remainder of the story though discussion does happen about the incident having happened, with only limited detail.

** JULY- Penelope **

One month.

It had been one month since Penelope had been driven down that dark road and found their mangled SUVs. Mangled bodies. The smell of wrecked metal, fuel, blood thick in the air.

She hadn’t been able to sleep ever since.

Oh, she tried to lay in her bed, to close her eyes, but when she did, all she saw was tragedy.

She couldn’t see it any more. She had to get away. Her reasons for staying were gone now.

For the past week, she’d been bringing personal things home from the office in her bags, a little at a time. Tonight, she’d waited until everyone was gone and had headed back in with some boxes to get the last of her things. A sweet security guard had helped her get them to her car. With one last glance back, she sadly thought to herself that that little room that had been her home for a decade and a half looked much like it had on her first day. Bare walls, empty desks. On her chair, she’d left an envelope to the people who’d once been her family.

==

By the time the sun rose the next morning, Penelope Garcia had completely moved out of her apartment, donating what she couldn’t fit in her car, and was travelling under her new identity to her new home.

==

Emily carefully entered her office and sank into her chair. Even all these weeks later, her body still ached from the abuse it had sustained. It still hurt that two members of their team had died in such a tragic way as a car wreck, both Walker and Alvez had been an important part of their team. Looking out into the bullpen, she watched as JJ strolled in, slowing her pace to match that of Rossi’s as he walked with the aid of a much sworn at cane. Dave was still on the team but permanently out of the field now, his days of literally chasing bad guys gone with the diagnosis of an injury that would never get better but could only get worse. Emily was happy to see the blonde back at work as well, she’d fielded many phone calls from Will as JJ had fought with minor PTSD over the crash and memories of her crash and injuries while overseas.

She sighed and frowned at the stack of files on her desk. Her first task of the day was to start looking for two or three new agents who would be a good fit for the BAU, she really missed Hotch for things like this.

Tara had hung on with the team until everyone was cleared medically, but then had put in for a transfer to a different unit, and Emily couldn’t blame her. The BAU was a tough unit to work in. And Spencer, Emily waited for him to turn up and slink into his seat, she knew Spencer wouldn’t last much longer either, she just hoped that when he did finally leave, it would be for something better.

Opening the first file, she frowned at the pages. Some of the top page was out of focus and hard to read. Reaching for her phone, she dialed Garcia’s office to see about getting a reprint. When the call went unanswered, Emily went in search of her long-time friend. Swiping her access, card, Emily stepped into the familiar office. “Garcia?” She froze and took in the empty room. All her friend’s trinkets and decorations were gone, the computers were silent. A white envelope on the chair caught her eye and Emily picked it up, noticing that it was addressed to her.

Opening it, her mouth dropped open as she read it to herself.

_Em-_

_I’m sorry, I really am, for doing this, but I can’t stay anymore. By the time you find this letter, I will be far away from Quantico and D.C. Many years ago, I was living an unhappy life and I took drastic measures to find a change that made me happy and in that change, I found a family. But recently that family has crumbled, and I have felt lost for a long while now._

_I have attended so many funerals related to this job and there had been so many more near misses. Times when I really believed that was it for one of you. I started seeing a shrink last year, I’m sure as my superior you can get access to those records, but one of the big things she and I talked about was that perhaps it was time for me to make a change. Start fresh somewhere._

_So, I am._

_I can’t be Penelope Garcia anymore, so I’m someone new now. Please don’t try to look for me, okay? I promise to be safe and to watch out for myself, it will be weird for a while I’m sure not having all of you to turn to for help. I have a destination in mind, so please don’t worry that I’m just drifting._

_Let everyone know that I love them, and I will be thinking of them, okay? I have so many memories to keep me company._

_Pen_

Emily wasn’t aware she’d started crying until she choked out a sob. Covering her mouth with her free hand, she tried to calm down. The room was empty, one of her closest friends was gone. She was ready to quit her job.

Pulling the door back shut, Emily carefully headed back toward her office but kept going until she found Dave sitting behind his desk. “Pen’s gone.”

“What?” He looked up at her, taking a sheet of paper and reading it when she handed it to him. “Oh. She’s…gone. I didn’t know she was hurting that bad.”

Prentiss sank into a chair. “Me neither. She never said anything to me. I thought we were close.”

“I would have thought so too, you two and JJ.” He swallowed. “Do you think she told Morgan anything?”

“I don’t know. I came straight to you.”

He shifted forward in his seat. “Let’s call him and find out.”

==

Penelope, now Grace, was somewhere between Moline, Illinois and Omaha, Nebraska. It was her third day of cross country driving, the only way that left a minimal trail, and she was tired of sitting in her new-to-her car and squinting into the sun. She had hoped to drive at least seven hours each day to keep good time, but just as her ass went numb again and her stomach growled, she realized there was no timeline for her to keep, nowhere she had to be at a given time, no one was expecting her. As signs for Omaha appeared, she made a decision to stop early and just enjoy the warm midwestern weather. Turning off, she found a chain hotel just off the interstate with a mom and pop diner right next door. Pulling in, she cut the engine and headed in to get a bite to eat.

Lou watched as a single blonde woman entered the diner and took a seat in a booth at the back facing out into the room. The restaurant was empty save for one old couple up near the doors, regulars from just outside of town, so the young woman was something to be interested in. As she wandered toward the back table, she watched the young woman’s eyes scan the room and the parking lot beyond before reading over the menu and then scanning again. When she stopped at the table, her customer startled visibly. “I’m sorry for startling you, I’m Lou. What can I get for you today?”

“Oh, um. Can I get some water? With lemon? And could I get the summer salad without the chicken?”

“Sure thing, Sweetie.” Lou took the menu when she handed it up. “Just passing through?”

“Yeah.” Grace smiled.

Lou nodded and gave the young woman a soft smile before wandering off to fetch the water. When she came back, the blonde was still scanning outside and twisting her paper napkin into nothingness. “Here you go. You travelling alone?”

“Mm-hmm.” Her eyes met Lou’s briefly.

“Where you headed?”

“California. San Francisco.”

Lou whistled. “That’s quite a drive. Where you coming from?”

“D.C.” Her voice cracked, thinking of what she left behind and how lonely the past two and a half days had been. How lonely her future was going to be.

“Why didn’t you just fly? That’s like a week’s worth of a drive.”

“I- I couldn’t. I needed to be off the grid for a while.”

“Oh.” Lou’d had an odd feeling about the young woman. “Listen, it’s my break. If you wouldn’t mind, could I join you and we could talk a bit?” The blonde looked up at her in surprise. “You just look like you could use a friend.”

“That’d be nice.”

When the waitress returned with both their meals and sat down, Grace sighed. “Thank you.”

“No problem, Hon. Tell me, what’s your name?”

“Grace.”

She nodded. “And if you don’t mind, Grace, what has you running clear across the country? You hiding from someone?”

“Not really, no. Well…” She sighed. “Not the way you’re thinking. I just needed to start over fresh, you know?”

“I do.”

“I’m from the Bay area originally and a long time ago I moved for work, built a life, but I just couldn’t do it anymore.”

“So, you’re going home.”

“Yeah. Sort of. I don’t really have a plan or a timeline. Right now, I’m just tired of driving, I think I’m going to stay around here for the night and start fresh in the morning.”

“Sounds like a good plan. There’s some fun stuff around here to do if you’re looking for distraction from whatever life you’ve had enough of.” She stood to return to her shift.

“Thanks, I’ll look into it.”


	2. August

** JANUARY- HOTCH **

Emily met Aaron in a coffee shop on the edge of the city. As she entered, she could see the anxiety in his face. “Hey, thanks for meeting me.”

“No problem.” He sat across from her. “Penelope quit?” Surprise filled his voice.

She nodded. “Six months ago. I came into work one morning and her office was cleared out and she left me a letter. The biggest part of which was that she had a new identity.”

He frowned. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

“What for, Hotch? You’re no longer part of the team, now you’re full time Jack’s Dad.”

“So, what changed?”

She passed several sheets of paper stapled together across to him. “The team digging into recent human trafficking rings across the USA began to have flags with all the right buzzwords popping up in different areas in print newspapers as well as online. In the past six weeks alone, those flags have then led authorities to arrest forty people involved in trafficking and rescue over a hundred men, women, and children ages eight through thirty. At first, they thought it was luck, but more than a few of their traffickers said they’d never posted the ads that tracked back to them.”

“Someone is setting them up?” His brows pulled together as he read over the pages.

“It looks like it. But that’s not all.” She waited till he looked up at her. “The team has been working on a case that crosses state lines. Men murdered by mobs in their neighborhood.”

“That doesn’t sound like a BAU case.”

“Well, the reason they’re attacked was they all secretly had kiddie porn on their computers, some had photos of neighborhood kids, and the photos somehow got leaked to a few neighbors who then talked to other neighbors and before you know it, we have dead men popping up across the US.”

“How many men?”

“Six over the past few months. The incidents themselves are unrelated, so timeline is about useless, but again, it took a while for us to realize that somehow these photos and things are getting out.”

“And you think Penelope is involved.” He stated.

“I haven’t shared this officially, but let’s just say that knowing P the way I do, I have some concerns about her safety. More than one of the traffickers has sworn they will find who set them up and kill them. And try as we might, I haven’t been able to track her down.” She tipped her head, studying him. “So, I thought I would call in the one person on earth who has experience in tracking her.”

Aaron rubbed his forehead. “If she’s involved, she’s going to know someone is after her. She knows all the team’s tricks.”

“But that’s just it, she’s expecting us, the team, to be after her. We’ll still be here or travelling and doing our thing. She’s not going to be looking over her shoulder for you.” She saw he was starting to give in. “Would you have any idea where she would even go?”

“I’m not sure.” He tapped the stack of paper. “Was there any pattern to any of this?”

Emily shook her head. “It’s evenly spaced across the US.”

“No concentrations or dead spots?”

“No.”

He sighed. “If it is her, she knows not to leave such obvious markers. Tell you what, send me everything you have and I’ll… I’ll look into it. Unofficially. Okay? I’m not promising anything here, but… If she’s in danger, she may not know it.”

==

==

** AUGUST- PENELOPE **

It turned out starting fresh, alone, was much harder than should had anticipated. She’d spent over a decade having people around her to rely on, to turn to when the nights got too long and dark and the days grew too lonely.

She’d found a tiny apartment easy enough in a part of town she didn’t really want to live in, but could afford easily. The first thing she did was find the coffee shop down the block and start making daily trips to a tall cup and a scone. Penelope wasn’t sure what sort of job she wanted, and she’d kept her resume vague enough to not draw much attention, so for her first weeks, she just wandered the places that used to be so familiar to her.

A month into being settled, Garcia decided to catch a movie one evening, get out of her cramped apartment and be around people, she was used to being so social. She’d eaten at a small Italian place around the corner before walking the five blocks to the theater, head held high. Confident.

Stepping out of the theater into the dark, she hesitated for a moment, wondering if she shouldn’t catch a cab instead before shaking off the idea. Bad things happened to other people, not her.

Halfway home, she realized the street was almost completely empty now and she was alone in the near darkness. She muttered to herself that everything was just fine, she was just fine, until two people dressed in hooded sweatshirts stepped out of and alley and boxed her in, manhandling her into the dark, damp area they’d come from. “Please, you can have whatever you want!”

The first person spoke. “You hear that? We can take whatever we want.”

The second chuckled darkly. “I heard. And you know what I want? I want a piece of this.” His hand slid up her skirt, pawing at her.

“No! Please don’t.” She tried to shove both men away, dropping her bag to the ground. “Take my whole bag, all my money, just please don’t.”

The first guy grabbed her and quickly pinned her to the wall, covering her mouth so she couldn’t scream for help while his friend began to pull away the items of clothing that were in his way. “Don’t fight and this will go much easier.” He hissed into her ear.

She fought. She fought with all she had, trying her best to deny either of them what they were trying to do. Guy number two managed to get his hands on her, in her, violating her before she could work out a plan to save herself. The mere thought of what the pair intended to do made her stomach church, the rich food she’d eaten earlier making it irritate and burn. As her eyes began to burn with tears and sobs began to well up, the churching became too much to hold in and she pitched forward, emptying her stomach all over all three of them.

The crying continued as the men jumped back, disgusted, before one pulled out a knife. “You stupid bitch! You think you can get rid of us that easy!” With his free hand, he gripped and squeezed her jaw. “You might be getting away tonight, but I’mma mark you and we’ll be back. We’ll find you again.” Holding tighter, he lifted the knife and pressed it to the side of her face, cutting into the skin near her left eye before dragging the blade past her ear and under the edge of her jaw, opening her cheek and sending blood dripping down. “You’re mine bitch. We’ll be back.” Stepping back, both men spit at her before vanishing into the street, leaving her exposed and bleeding and she sank to the ground and cried.

She didn’t know how long she sat on the ground in the dark and cried, but by the time Penelope thought to stand up, he shirt was soaked down one side with blood and the blood on her skin was dried and caking. Collecting her torn clothing and the spilled contents of her bag, she limped the remainder of the way home and locked herself inside.

She managed to keep it together long enough to strip naked and get into the shower, letting the water beat down as hot as she could stand. She could still feel their hands on her, it made her stomach churn again, feel the one man reaching inside her, the other cutting her. She didn’t want to be alone, but had no one now to call. Sinking to the floor of the tub, she curled up and cried until long after the water’d run cold. Once it was like ice raining down on her, she stood and began to scrub until her skin was red and raw and still she could feel them on her. Her face burned as the water washed away the dried blood, movement breaking the tentative seal that had formed to begin the healing process, causing fresh drops of blood to leak out again.

When she finally stepped out, hours had passed, and it was after midnight. She dried herself and pulled on pajamas before finding some gauze and cream to treat her face. Frowning at them, she collected everything she’d been wearing and shoved it in a garbage bag, she would never be able to wear them again anyway.

Once she was clean and dry, she finally settled in her bed and the true reality of it all set in. Before, in DC, she could have called anyone on the team and someone would have come to her rescue, the whole team would have turned up to find the men who did this. But now? Now there was no team, no one had her back. No one was coming to comfort her or hold her through the nightmares she knew undoubtedly would start.

She was beginning to regret her decision to leave.


	3. September

** FEBRUARY- HOTCH **

From the time Emily had given him all the information she’d had to the present, Aaron had spent every day sitting in his home office looking for some clue as to where Penelope Garcia had gone. He’d started with her apartment only to learn the place had already been re-rented. The building manager had been little help, just sharing the Ms. Garcia had paid the remainder of her lease in cash and left a notice that she was surrendering the place. It took a search, but Hotch also found Esther at a used car lot across town, still waiting for someone to buy her and fix her up. Working mostly on impulse, he bought her, paid cash for the old car and arranged to have her deliver to her new place. If he ever managed to track Penelope down, she could at least get her car back.

As the sun set on another day, the only thing he knew for sure was that the blonde that had been his friend for so long was no longer in the DC area. Staring at the map now pinned to his wall, his mind tried to work out where she would go if she were on the run. “When she’s ever been shaken like that…” He spoke to himself. “She always wants to be home.” Slowly his eyes drifted west across the map. “Home.”

He didn’t sleep that night, instead he made arrangements for Jack to be looked after and he began to pack. He had no doubt that to if she’d gone back to California, she’d driven there. And he could guess which way she took, he’d take it too, making stops frequently to see if anyone just off the interstates had seen her. It was a long shot, there would be too many places to check, but he needed to try.

The drive took him much longer than it probably would have her, he was stopping much more often than he was sure Penelope did, but a week later, he pulled into a diner parking lot in Nebraska and crawled out, thankful it was a twenty-four-hour establishment, and bundled himself inside. The restaurant was totally empty, he guessed a mix of the late hour and the bad weather contributed to that, a single waitress was propped behind the counter. Ignoring his urge to be able to see the doors, Aaron took a seat on a barstool and waited for her to come over.

“Coffee?”

“Please.” He nodded, waiting for her to return with it.

“What has you out on a night like tonight?”

“Passing through. Looking for someone, hopefully tracing their steps.” He just caught the split-second falter in the woman’s steps and it sent his senses into overdrive. Pulling out a photo, he held it up. “By chance have you ever seen this woman?”

She was slow to turn around, but when her eyes landed on the picture, Aaron knew. The waitress chewed her bottom lip. “Yes, I’ve seen her before. It was last summer though.”

“And you remember her?”

“She looked scared half outta her mind, constantly checking the lot and stuff. She said she wasn’t running from a man or anything, but she was really edgy.”

“Do you know where she was headed?”

She eyed him now. “And who, exactly, are you?”

Hotch sighed. “My name’s Aaron Hotchner, I used to work with her at the FBI. I’m just trying to track her down because she is in danger.”

“She’s in danger? How do I know you’re not the danger she’s running from?”

Carefully, he pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and pulled out several cards, one of which was he ABA card, the other his retired agent ID. “Here’s all my information, I’ll tell you anything about me you want to know, but I need to know where she is.”

She looked over the cards and frowned. “Tell you what. If you guess right, I’ll be honest, but you gotta think, would she have told me the truth anyways?”’

“Yes, I believe she would have.”

“Okay then.”

“I think she’s gone back to San Francisco.”

The waitress stared at him a minute, she hadn’t really expected him to guess right on the first try, maybe he really was a worried friend. “Yes, but I don’t know no more.”

“Thank you, though. Really… Thank you.”

==

==

** SEPTEMBER- PENELOPE **

The internet had proven to be the best source of income for her as she remained mostly locked in her apartment now. She typed paperwork and letters for people, ran searches and aided private investigators, and generally tried to use her skills only for good.

Nightmares still plagued her almost every night, but the cut on her face had healed to a red and angry looking scar. She knew people stared when she went outside, so she stayed in as much as she could.

It was during one job that she came across something that she just couldn’t look past. One of the men she was tasked with investigating had a computer full of kiddie porn, worse still, he also had photos of kids in his own neighborhood out playing. It was a violation that had her getting all kinds of worked up, she needed to protect those kids before one became a victim, but no law enforcement would get involved yet. It took a little time, she didn’t have the same access she’d had when she worked for the FBI, but eventually she managed to forward proof of who the man was to one of his neighbors. She just had to hope that human nature took care of the rest.

For a week after she sent the messages, Penelope watched the online newspapers until she found it. Her baddie had been attacked by a mob of his neighbors right in his own front yard.

She smiled to herself and moved on to the next assignment.


	4. October

** FEBRUARY- HOTCH **

Aaron had spent two days in San Francisco just getting his bearings. He ruled out certain areas just by price and then focused on the rest. Canvassing alone took forever, but after over a week of asking questions, it dawned on him that no matter where Garcia was, she’d be in search of coffee and pastries. So, at his next stop, he began to ask different questions, namely, where were the best places in the area to get those two things.

Three days of searching hole in the wall coffee shops, Penelope never liked chains, later, he found a lead.

“Yeah, there’s a chick around here who looks sorta like that.” The young man behind the counter shrugged at the photo. “Not totally though. I mean, I’ve never seen her in glasses and her hair is a lot shorter, but she comes in sometimes really early in the mornings before it gets busy. I guess if that’s an old picture of her.”

Aaron nearly leapt for joy. “Have you caught a name?”

“Grace, that’s all I know.”

He frowned. “Grace? Do you by chance have cameras here? Do you think you could show me the last time she was in?”

The guy shrugged. “We have one on the door and the counter, she always comes in early on Mondays like clockwork.” He led Hotch to the back and scanned through the footage until he found who he was looking for. “There. She wears that scarf a lot, but she’ll take it off in a second after she… See, she likes to make sure there’s no one in really before she takes it off.”

Aaron stared at the small screen. Her hair was a lot shorter now, just short of a bob, and she must be wearing contacts because he knew she was nearsighted enough that she could never go without something. But it was definitely Penelope. “That scar, has she always had it?”

The guy shrugged. “Far as I know.”

“Look, thank you so much for this.” Aaron stood and pulled out a business card. “If you think of anything that might help me locate her or if she comes in, give me a call?”

“Yeah, sure.” He glanced at the card. “Hey, if you’re trying to get her, on the days she comes, it’s around five. If she’s not been in by a quarter after, she doesn’t come later.”

Hotch nodded. “Thank you.”

==

The following morning, Hotch was parked in his dark blue rental across the street from the coffee shop, checking his watch every two minutes. When five fifteen came and went, he sighed and put the car into gear, heading back to the hotel he’d switched to the previous afternoon. He was frustrated. So close now, but still so far and even worse, she’d clearly sustained some kind of injury in her short time away and he was worried if she was okay or not.

He paced his room and thought about what he knew. She likely wasn’t working in some office building, it hadn’t been her style before and her years at the Bureau hadn’t really warmed her to the idea either. His mind went over the few seconds of tape the guy at the shop had showed him. She’d walked there, or so it appeared. She hadn’t parked right out front anyway. And Garcia had always loved frequenting a local shop within walking distance of wherever they were. Flopping himself onto his bed, he decided he’d try again the following morning and every morning until he finally tracked her down.

==

==

** OCTOBER- PENELOPE **

Halloween was depressing. All she could think about as the days passed, slowly marching toward what was once one of her favorite holidays, was she missed Jack’s birthday, Emily and Spencer’s a few days later. She used to love going with them to pick costumes and decorate everywhere she could get away with.

As she stared out her apartment window at someone decorating a window across the street, she remembered the year she managed to cover the outside of Hotch’s office window overlooking the bullpen with fake spider web and fuzzy black spiders. At first, she’d been worried he’d make her take it down but when he came in and saw it, he hadn’t reacted at all. All day, Garcia had worried nervously about what he thought of it until late in the afternoon when he packed up to leave, she caught him stop to poke at one realistic looking arachnid before a small smile crossed his face. She had given a sigh of relief.

This year though, she had no urge to go out and find a costume or decorate her still plain apartment. She reached up and touched the side of her face, this year she could probably go out without a costume and people would still think she was a monster. She knew she was lucky, the cut hadn’t affected her vision or anything else, it was a just a scar and eventually, once it had healed a bit more, she’d be able to mostly cover it with make-up.

Turning back to her row of computers she’d set up, she shuffled through her notes. Once she’d crossed that line once with the man with the kiddie porn, it opened her eyes to how she could still contribute to society and keep people safe. It was easy to sink back into her hacker ways, an online sort of Caped Crusader, pursuing the doers and protecting the innocent.

Once she was committed, she also began to track her former team just in case she tripped their radar and were coming after her again. She wasn’t naive, this plan was only going to work for so long before she got into trouble again. And she doubted she would get so lucky a second time.


	5. November

** FEBRUARY- HOTCH **

When he finally did spot her, Aaron lost his nerve to confront her in the coffee shop. The Penelope he remembered was a very passionate woman and it briefly crossed his mind that surprising her, startling her with a hot cup of coffee in her hand, ran the risk of someone ended up with scald burns.

Instead, Aaron carefully watched as she walked up the block and finally into an older apartment building. Now he knew where she lived, he just needed to come up with a plan to actually talk to her.

==

Aaron thought hard and eventually formulated a plan, digging through his suitcase until he assembled an outfit that hopefully would give him an air of sweet innocence as well as natural authority. Once he’d donned what he thought would work, suit pants and shirt, no tie, jacket and he best coat and scarf to keep out the cold. Checking over in the mirror, Aaron headed to his car, praying the whole way that this would work.

==

Hurrying up to the building, Hotch spotted an elderly woman trying to negotiate the to steps and the door with a pull cart of groceries and quickened his step to pull the door open for her, letting his rarely used southern drawl seep out. “There you go, ma’am.” When she looked up at him, he gifted her his most winning smile complete with dimples.

She smiled back. “Thank you, young man.”

He followed her in, a small part of his brain completely horrified at just how easy that had been. “Could I help you any further?”

“No, thank you. I’m just down the hall.” She stopped and faced him fully. “I haven’t seen you around before, what’s your name?”

Well, that made him feel a tiny bit better. “Aaron, ma’am. I’m here visiting a friend.”

“Which friend?”

“Her name is Grace.”

The woman’s face lit up. “Oh, Grace! She’s such a sweet young lady, always a little sad, but it’s nice she has such a lovely young man to finally visit.” Her voice turned a bit conspiratorial. “I think maybe she’s been a bit homesick and then after whatever happened… She doesn’t go out much anymore, but she does stop by and check on me.”

He nodded, back to concerned. “I heard and I’m sorry I haven’t been able to check on her before. Listen, since you know her, I got all the way up here and just realized I left the page with her apartment number at the hotel. I could go back but I don’t suppose you’d be kind enough to tell me to save me the trip?” He made sure to end with another dimpled smile and try not to think about how unsubby this all made him feel.

“Sure thing, Sweetheart. There’s an elevator at the end of the hall, she’s in 9G.”

“Thank you, ma’am.” Nodding his thanks, he headed for the elevator and went up to the ninth floor. He took several deep breaths before knocking.

==

==

** NOVEMBER- PENELOPE **

Despite the feeling of wrongness that came with getting comfortable, Penelope eventually found a rhythm and a sort of comfort in the people she ran into regularly. The scar on her face seemed slow to fade, strangers stared but she was used to staring. Her old wardrobe used to draw just as much attention and whispers.

On impulse, she’d picked up a large turkey the week before thanksgiving and spent the following days staring at it, wondering why she’d purchased it and what she was going to do with it now. In the before, she would have had the team over and would have cooked a huge meal, enjoying the noise and busyness of the day. In the now, she was a single woman with no family, no friends, and no noisy. She spent two days feeling sorry for herself before she began wandering the halls of her building until she found them.

On the fourth floor was a family that no one knew much about, but a short conversation with the building manager clued her in that they weren’t well off. The mother had been battling cancer for over a year and struggled to keep up with the five kids that were from ages three to nine while the dad worked as often as he could to make ends meet.

Another trip to the market and Penelope had a plan.

The day before thanksgiving she began to do all of the prep work, loading everything into disposable pans, adding paper napkins and plates as well and then, in the wee hours of Thanksgiving morning, she began to cook. She was just placing the last box of piping hot food by their door when she heard children’s’ voices inside so she knocked hard and quickly vanished down the hall.

She might be alone, but she could at least make someone else’s holiday happy.


	6. December

** FEBRUARY- HOTCH **

Staring at the white door, Aaron shifted from foot to foot, he waited for it to open. Shuffling on the other side warned him just before the door opened and blue eyes blinked at him.

Her mouth opened and closed several times without a sound coming out.

He felt himself blush as he smiled softly. “Hello Penelope.”

Her breath caught a moment before she finally spoke. “Hi.”

When the silence drew out and he was still standing in the hall, Aaron asked. “May I come in?”

“Oh! Yes, please. Come in.” She finally stepped back and allowed him entry.

It was habit, automatically looking around and taking in the space, a habit he’d never managed to break. What he could see told him a great deal about Penelope’s condition. The room was plain, boring, nothing like her workspace or apartment in DC had been. When he finally turned full circle, and let his eyes land on her, he could see the deep scar that ran down one side of her face clearly. “What happened?”

“Why are you here?” She asked back.

“I’m here to find you.”

“Why?”

“You’re in danger.” His hand came up as he took a step toward her, wanting to see her face up close but when she flinched away, he let his hand drop. “Emily said you left. Months ago, she said, but she only told me a few weeks ago. I’ve been looking for you since.”

“But…why?”

Aaron sighed. “You have to know why, Penelope.”

“Grace.”

“What?”

“I- I’m Grace now… No one has called me Penelope since I left.”

He nodded, voice soft. “Okay.” He tried to organize his thoughts. “Emily was suspicious… There have been some cases and things that have had…odd…connections. And her first thought was that you were involved.” He lifted his head and met her eyes, getting his answer in them. “You’re not officially a suspect in anything, but you are in danger. Some of the people you assisted in putting away are trying their best to find you and I’m betting that your computers don’t protect you nearly as well here as they did back at Quantico.”

Admitting to herself the truth to his words, she sagged and moved to sit on her couch. “Come. Sit.”

Aaron joined her, taking her hand. “Now. Talk to me, what happened?”

Tears instantly sprung to her eyes as a sob caught in her throat. As she shuddered back the overwhelming urge to just let it all go, she felt strong arms wrap around her, pulling her close, and that was it, the tears finally broke free as seven months of suffering plus easily another year of heartache reached their boiling point.

Unwilling to turn loose once he had her in his arms, Aaron held tight until, long after his arm went numb, the tears finally subsided. Pressing a kiss to her hair, he adjusted so they could be comfortable without him having to let go. “When?”

“Au- August.” She whispered.

He didn’t want to ask, but he was worried for her. “Did he rape you?”

“They.”

His hands curled into fists almost on their own. “Did they rape you?”

“No, not…not really.”

He pulled back at that, tipping her chin up. “How could it be ‘not really’?”

“It was only one of them and he only used…” Her voice caught again. “It was just his hands. Fingers.” Tears welled up again. “I can still feel them. Him. Them holding me.”

He let her return to his shoulder. “Did you go to the police?”

“No.”

“Did you go to the hospital?”

“No.”

Aaron wasn’t sure what to say next, so he stayed quiet until, eventually, she pulled away, catching her hand gently as she started to get up, eyes suddenly locked on the point where her sweater sleeve had ridden up.

==

==

** DECEMBER- PENELOPE **

If Halloween and Thanksgiving had been bad, Christmas was worse. Penelope didn’t bother to buy any decoration, she’d had fewer paid jobs in recent weeks, having focused more on her freelance work, so there wasn’t any money to really buy much of anything, not that she had anyone to buy for.

Christmas Eve had her wandering down the block until she found a corner mart still open, so she went in and wandered the tiny aisles until she found it in the back. A bottle of the odd brand of scotch she knew Hotch and Rossi had always shared and so on impulse, she bought it and took it home. She didn’t have liquor glasses, so she used a mug to start downing the burning liquid. The more she drank, the fuzzier everything in the room became. Several more mug in, her thoughts turned morose and self-depreciating. Once Garcia wasn’t sure her body could handle any more, she collected the scotch and her mug and stumbled to her bedroom, placing both on the bedside table before passing out on the bed.

In her dreams, she saw Hotch walking toward her, the bullpen was full of their colleagues and friends, but no one seemed to notice. She’d always been attracted to their boss, but had kept it under wraps, but judging by the look in his eyes, he’d worked it out. Clearly not caring about what the others would say, Hotch had pulled her to his check and began kissing her in earnest, one hand holding the back of her head while the other slipped down to her ass. She could almost feel him, his mouth and hands, his arousal pressing into her hip.

With the alcohol coursing through her veins, her dream suddenly morphed and they were on a bed she didn’t recognize, she was laid out naked while he crawled, naked, up her body. Without a word, he sank into her and gently brought them both to completion.

When she finally woke up, she was hungover and horny. Ignoring the pounding headache just a moment, she let one hand slip below the band of her pants as she tried to remember the look on Hotch’s face as he’d come above her. The vision was fuzzy, but she was desperate and soon enough she managed to find an unsatisfying release that left her still hungover, but now also lonely and depressed.

Pen stumbled into her bathroom and tried to splash water on her face to sober up, but the sadness lingered along with the hollow, needy feeling. She eyed the cheap razor on the edge of the tub and wondered if any of her old friends would ever come looking for her one day. Would anyone ever notice if she was gone.


	7. February

** FEBRUARY- HOTCH **

His thumb brushed the barely-there marks. “You’ve been hurting yourself.”

“It was… Just once. I’d been drinking, and it was Christmas. I was so alone.”

He nodded, carefully tugging her sleeve down, but not letting go of her hand. “You’ve been hurting. Why… Why didn’t you just call me?”

Penelope chewed her lip. “I needed to be away.”

“Okay. But is this how you expected it to be?”

“No. I didn’t expect it to be so hard.”

Aaron stood and stepped closer to her. “I’m staying at a hotel a few miles from here. Would you… Would you please come back there with me? I’m not sure staying here is good for you. Fill a bag with things for a day or two and come with me.”

She debated a minute before nodding and vanishing to collect her things. When she returned, he took her bag and she pulled the scarf she often used up over her head to mostly conceal her scar before following him out to his car.

==

Penelope wasn’t sure what she’d expected to happen once they arrived in his room, but nothing she imagined included watching him shed his coat and shoes before helping her out of hers and guiding her to the bed. When he nudged her back, she first sat and then crawled up to lay with her head on a pillow, again surprised when he crawled up behind her, spooning her.

His voice was soft. “Shh, rest for now.”

She nodded and let her eyes flutter shut, sleep coming rapidly for the first time since summer as firm arms wrapped around her.

==

The sun was setting when she woke up again. As she blinked, Penelope realized she was no longer on her side with Hotch at her back, but on her back, alone.

When Aaron returned to the room a few minutes later, he saw she was awake and put down the drinks he’d fetched from a vending machine at the end of the hall before crawling up the bed, settling on his side, head propped up on one hand while the other gently landed on Penelope’s stomach. “You’re awake.”

She nodded.

Aaron blushed, darker this time than before. “Looking at you… I just want to…” He trailed off.

She saw how blown wide his pupils were and gave him a soft, sleepy smile before barely whispering. “Kiss me.” The sudden weight of him on her made her gasp against his lips, a tongue taking the opportunity to lick along the part. It was precisely like her dreams and so very different at the same time. They were both dressed, for a start, and he wasn’t just ravishing her, instead it was more like he was worshiping her.

They made out until both were breathless, lips swollen and pink, and still, she mentally noted, his hands had stayed firmly above her waist even though she’d been feeling his hardness steadily growing against her thigh. Taking a chance, she shifted her leg to rub against the bulge and the man over her groaned.

“I… Please, Penelope…” He mumbled against her lips. “If you keep doing that, I’ll…”

She shifted again and felt the rumbling of a groan slash growl in his chest pressed against hers and the sound pressed her on to do it again and then again. As they kept up kissing, she kept her thigh rubbing against him until he was trembling over her.

“I’m too close. Please, no more.” He begged, panting shallowly now.

Shifting down, she nipped at his throat. “What if it was my hand?” His answer was a high-pitched whine, so, slowly, she traced her hands down to the closures on his pants and soon enough, his heavy cock was in her hand. “Would you like to fuck my hand?” She felt his member twitch. “Come on, fuck my hand.”

His hips began to twitch and stutter into a pattern as he took her lips again. Moaning into her mouth, he thrust hard and fast until his moans turned to cries and he was painting the space between them. He kept the kiss going until the trembling had stopped. “Sorry.”

“For what, Sweetheart?”

“Finishing without you.” He rolled to the side to avoid making the mess worse. “I can…” He wasn’t sure how to offer. “I can take care of you.”

Penelope hesitated at that. No one had touched her since the incident, the prospect of someone doing so terrified her, even if that someone was as gentle as Hotch. “It’s…it’s okay. I…” Her mind scrambled as her breathing increased. “You can watch?”

He saw the panic in her eyes and knew it was something they needed to talk about. Later. “I’d love to watch.”

==

Early the next morning, Aaron sat on the bed half dressed and watched through the partly open doorway as Penelope got ready for the day. When she opened her makeup bag, he finally spoke up. “If I asked, would you go without?”

She looked up at him in the reflection of the mirror. “Without?”

“The makeup.” He clarified simply.

Penelope chewed her lip. She’d never been out without disguising as much of her scar as possible, but Aaron wouldn’t care about it and frankly, with him at her side, it would be a little easier not to care about how others reacted. “Okay.” She slowly put what was in her hand down and turned to face him properly. “As long as you’re there with me.”

Aaron nodded and stood, closing the space between them. “Of course.” He didn’t speak again until they were both seated in a small restaurant across the street. “It scared you, last night.” He sipped his coffee.

“Hmm?” She hesitated.

He gave her a knowing look. “I think maybe you need to find someone to talk to about it. But it’s still going to take time to be okay with doing things.”

“How much time?”

He shrugged. “For some people, they can never do that again. Every person is different. What’s important is that you never ignore how you feel in order to try and make someone else happy.”

She swallowed a mouthful of her own coffee before putting her mug aside and reaching for his hand. “I’m glad you came.”


	8. Decision

After breakfast, Penelope made an excuse and headed back to her apartment alone with the promise to call Aaron later that afternoon to check in. Once she was alone, she took a slow stroll around the rooms of her place and really looked at the small space she had only half moved into. It wasn’t much of an admission to say she wasn’t happy back in California. Sure, the work she was getting was better, but she missed her friends. Her family. Digging through the back of her closet, Penelope found the book of photos she’d hidden away and flipped through them, remembering how good it felt to have others around. Searching her phone, she dialed a number she’d long ago memorized and waited, holding her breath.

“Hotchner.” A deep voice answered.

“Aaron? I-” Her voice cracked. “I want to go home.”

“Okay.” He softly answered.

“Okay?” She hiccoughed. “That’s it? Okay?”

“Well… Yes. I mean, I can help you look for a new place to stay and whenever your lease is up…”

“No.” She cut off. “Today. Or, whenever you’re leaving. I don’t have anything really tying me here and most of my stuff can fit in the back seat of a car.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.”


	9. Motel Memory

The next morning, Aaron checked out of his hotel room and drove his rental car to Penelope’s building, locating a good spot to park so they could load up her things. Jogging up the stairs, he found her door propped open and a stack of bags already waiting just inside. “Penelope?”

“Yeah.” She called out before appearing in the bedroom doorway looking nervous.

“You can take time to think about this if you want.”

“No. I miss home. I- I know that I needed the change, but I’ve been here too long.” She moved two duffle bags into the main room. “This is everything that absolutely needs to go. I figured once I’ve loaded it, I can see what room is left.”

“I’ll do it.” He picked up some of the begs at his own feet.

“No, Hotch. I made all this mess, I can pack it up.” She hurried toward him and tried to grab for her things.

He pulled the bags behind his back and stopped her with his chest. “I’ll take care of it, Penelope. And it’s Aaron.”

She nodded but didn’t back away. “It’s weird hearing my name again.”

Aaron leaned forward and brushed a kiss to the corner of her mouth. “Is this okay?” He asked, breath brushing her cheek.

“Yes.” She sighed.

He finally took a step back. “You keep going through everything and I’ll start on the car. Okay?”

“Yeah, okay.”

==

Their conversation remained light as Aaron finally drove them out of the city and onto the interstate headed east. There was no plan, no timeline or deadline to getting back to Virginia, so they were just taking in the things they could see along the way. They passed through Sacramento without much thought and then headed through the Forests on the way to Reno, Garcia typed away on her phone, looking up cool facts about the area until Aaron finally cut her off with a hand gently placed on her leg.

He’d started to ask her a question when he realized she was completely tense under his hand. A glance across the car and he saw she was practically frozen in place. He pulled his hand away. “I’m sorry, Penelope.”

“It’s okay.” She choked out.

“No, it’s not.” He instead took her hand. “Please. Don’t say something’s okay because you’re afraid. I need to know if it bothers you, even if you think it might be silly.” He gave her hand a squeeze. “Okay?”

“Uh, yeah. Okay.”

“Good.” He lowered their joined hands to his lap. “Now. I was thinking we could go ahead and just stop for the day by about six or so? We have no rush and sitting in a car gets pretty old.”

She smiled softly. “Yeah. That sounds nice.”

As dinnertime finally approached, Hotch guided the car into the lot of the small motel Garcia had directed him to and frowned. There were a lot of trees around the property and he could see a couple lights out along the walkways and it made him slightly nervous. “Is this it?” He tried to keep him voice even.

“Yeah.” She eyed him. “This okay?”

“Fine.” He answered a little too quickly. He pulled into the first parking space and climbed out, turning to her as he did. “Lock the door, okay?”

She frowned at him. “Okay.”

Aaron headed inside, the bell on the door making him flinch. There was an older man behind the counter who didn’t seem all that interest in him as he reserved a room for the night. When Aaron took the key, he frowned at the giant six emblazoned on the tag but said nothing as he hurried back to where Penelope was waiting. “I got us one room to share, I hope that’s okay.”

“It’s fine.” She saw the tension increasing in his body, but didn’t understand why. Sure, they’d both been nervous when he’d just appeared on her doorstep, but he hadn’t seemed too nervous once they’d returned to his hotel room. Or in bed. But maybe now he was worried about sharing a room with her. Maybe he was regretting what they’d done. “Unless you want separate rooms?” She offered him an out.

“No!” He responded too sharply. “No, I’m sorry. Sharing is fine.” He parked their car as close as he could to the door and handed her the key while he collected their bags. Inside, he quickly began to walk the room, trying to very casually check it out.

“Aaron?”

“Yeah?” He answered distractedly.

“What’s wrong?”

“Wrong?”

She sighed and waited.

“This motel… It reminded me of a case is all.”

“A case?” She couldn’t remember a case with a motel. Well, there had been plenty of cases involving motels and the team frequented many questionable ones, but nothing that she could remember that would have him so edgy.

“A man murdered couples after brutally beating and raping them.” He stopped in the middle of the room, eyes still roaming. “It was an out of the way motel a bit like this one. The couples all stayed in room six.”

She gasped, hands covering her mouth.

“Only about a hundred and fifty miles from here.”

Penelope was on her feet. “Aaron! Why didn’t you say something! Let’s go find a different place to sleep. Come on.”

“No. It’s okay. I promise.”

She frowned at him. “I don’t think it’s healthy, but…fine.”

“It’s okay, we’re here together and we’re both smarter than the average person… And I still have my guns.”

She nodded but didn’t comment. “Well, in that case, I’ll just take a shower quickly then.” She began to dig through her bag.

“Leave… Please leave the door open a tiny bit?”

“Sure.”

==

Penelope was careful as she’d showered and changed to stay tucked behind the bathroom door. Despite her having had his cock in her hand in his hotel room, they had otherwise remained clothed and all other touching had been over their clothes. She wasn’t quite ready yet to feel so exposed in front of him. Once she was fully dressed in sweats as pajamas, Penelope stepped out of the bathroom. “It’s all yours.”

Hotch already had his things ready and collected them, brushing her shoulder as he headed in to take his own shower. He was nervous, no matter what he’d told Penelope, the motel was bothering him, and he wasn’t sure he was going to be able to sleep at all. Under the hot spray, he tried to talk himself down, but he was still on edge when he stepped out fifteen minutes later.

Penelope was in the other bed already, staring at him over the book in her lap. She gave him a worried look. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” He headed for his own bed.

She wasn’t convinced, but didn’t pressure him. “Do you want to set an alarm?”

“No, we’re not in any rush.” He settled into place. “You want the light on or off?”

“Off. I was just reading while I waited.” She put her book away and settled down to sleep.

==

When Penelope woke in the darkness, she wasn’t sure at first what had disturbed her slumber but after a moment, she heard it. The man in the next bed thrashed again, his breathing harsh. She listened to him mumble something and then his breathing increase as if he was in a panic. Climbing out of her own bed, she crossed the narrow space and carefully placed a hand on his shoulder. “Hotch?” When he didn’t respond, she gripped him harder. “Hotch!”

Aaron inhaled sharply and held his breath as he startled awake. He could feel something squeezing his right arm, but in the darkness, he couldn’t see what it was.

“Are you awake now?” A voice asked in the blackness.

“Yeah.” His throat was dry, and he tried to sit up. “I’m fine. I’m sorry if I woke you.” He remembered now, he was in a motel room with Garcia, driving back from California. He felt as her other hand brushed his hair, the darkness seeming to remove any boundaries.

“You were having a nightmare.” She whispered. “About the case you mentioned?”

He knew better than to lie. “Yeah.” When she pulled him sideways to lean his head against her, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, he didn’t fight it but instead wrapped his own around her waist. “Maybe staying here wasn’t the best idea.”

She snorted but didn’t comment further.

Eventually, Aaron pulled away. “I’m sorry.” He repeated, slowing getting out of his bed and stumbling to the bathroom. He needed a drink and a moment with some lights on to help banish the image of finding Garcia instead of the victim that day tied to the bed, exposed and afraid. Once his eyes adjusted to the brightness, he looked around the small room. Neither of them had left much of anything in the bathroom, so it only held the complimentary towels and soap. Leaning against the counter, Aaron looked at his reflection in the mirror. He was still trembling slightly from the dream but managed to splash some water on his face before returning to the main room, opting to leave the bathroom light on and the door ajar so the room wasn’t completely dark. He was surprised to find Penelope sitting in his bed now, on the far side, with the covers pulled back.

She was chewing her lip. “Sorry if I’m presuming a bit, but I thought maybe this way you wouldn’t worry too much and be able to sleep?”

“Uhh.” He felt a blush creep up his neck. “It’s okay.” He crawled back into his spot and tried to get comfortable and was surprised when she wrapped around him from behind, doing her best to be the big spoon. “G’night, Penelope.”

“Night.”

==

The next time Aaron woke, daylight was streaming through the window. Penelope was on her back and he was tucked into her side, head on her shoulder and one arm and leg tossed over her. It was comfortable. Moving carefully, he tilted his head up to watch her sleeping. He wondered if he’d never ended up as her boss, would their paths have ever crossed. He missed that she was waking until her eyes fluttered open and she turned toward him.

“Morning.” Her voice was soft. “Sleep better?”

“Yes. Thank you.” He started to move away, but she held him in place. “Penelope.”

“Hey, just for a second. This is nice, okay? After being on my own for so many months, it’s nice to have someone who’s really there.”

Aaron relaxed again and just enjoyed the quiet for a bit.

“I remember, you know. I mean, my memory was never like Reid’s, but the cases when someone got hurt or… when it was especially hard for one of you… I remember them. Not always the little details since I didn’t travel with you, but I remember that you beat yourself up for having talked to the killer and didn’t realize it was him.”

The silence lingered for a while as Aaron gathered his thoughts. By the time he was ready to speak, Garcia had given up on getting a response. “The last couple suffered because I missed it.”

Her hand began to massage his scalp. “No. They suffered because that man was a bad man. They survived because you were out there looking for them.”

“How have you stayed so positive.” He mused more than asked.

She pressed a kiss to the hair she’d been playing with. “I spent a long time surrounded by people with the best hearts in the world. My very own Justice League.”

Aaron chuckled, finally pushing up so he could look down at her. “Is that so?”

She grinned and nodded. “Uh-huh.” She giggled in response to the dimpled smile on his face, but the giggles faded as he leaned in and pressed a kiss to her lips.

He pulled back a fraction. “Is this okay?”

“Yes.” When his lips returned to hers, Penelope felt her toes curl. She wasn’t sure what this was that had happened twice now. The coming together of two lonely people just looking for a release? Something else? She wasn’t ready to ask.

Once their lips were pink and swollen, Aaron pulled back, aware of the interest starting to awaken in his sweatpants. He didn’t want her to get the wrong idea, so he excused himself to the bathroom to change, hoping his blossoming hardness wasn’t as visible as it felt.

Once the bathroom door was shut and locked, he took a chance and looked down, frowning. Thin sweats didn’t do much in the way of concealing and surely she couldn’t have missed how tented they were. Glaring at himself as he undressed, Aaron concentrated on any mood killer he could think of until he managed to will it away.


	10. Hot Spring

It was approaching noon when they finished what ended up being brunch and finally got on the road. The drive wasn’t very exciting, the landscape was mostly deserts and cliffs. Neither seemed inclined to start much of a conversation so the day was mostly filled with music and static on the radio and quiet.

Once they reached Salt Lake City, the pair quietly began to look for a place to stop for dinner as well as a well-lit, chain hotel to stay in. They agreed to no more roadside motels.

While they waited on their food, Aaron watched Penelope poke at her phone. “Anything good?”

She glanced up. “Oh, not really. I figured if we’re getting a place here tonight that maybe we could see what was happening instead of just sitting in our hotel room.” She shrugged. “But if you don’t want to…”

“No, that sounds good.”

“Oh.” She repeated, surprised this time. “Well… There’s the Family History Library, but I’m not sure what time they close.” She moved the screen around. “There’s a couple history museums and things like the hot springs and salt flats.”

“The hot springs sound interesting. Maybe we could stay tomorrow and head up there? I’ve heard it’s a bit of a hike though.”

Penelope was taken by the look of excitement in his eyes. “It’s no big deal, let’s do it.”

==

Aaron turned around and waited. They’d gotten luck and it had been a dry winter, so the roads were open. The hike was fairly short, to him anyway. It was a good deal shorter one way than his usual runs and having been traveling so much in recent weeks, he’d missed the exercise. He was the one carrying the loaded backpack, Aaron wasn’t about to get caught out without enough water or anything else and he’d already shed his coat.

He watched Garcia doing her best to keep up and smiled at her. “You said it was no big deal, you know.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m fine, I swear.” She huffed, finally stepping up beside him. “Not to sound whiny but, how much further?”

He tried to hide that he was breathing a bit heavy in the crisp air. “It should be just around the corner.” He looked around, there were plenty of people milling about, either headed to or back from the spring, it was enough to not set him on edge. “Thing how good it will feel when we get there.”

“Yeah, yeah.” She playfully swatted his arm, losing her footing with a yelp in the process.

Aaron caught her and pulled her upright before taking her hand. “How about I hold onto you?” He tugged her forward and moments later they were staring down at the pools.

“It’s beautiful.” She gasped.

“I know.”

She glanced up only to realize Aaron wasn’t staring down at the water, but at her and it made her blush. “Shall we?”

“After you.” He gestured her forward and then followed as she found a pool that was empty and just the right amount of warm.

Penelope quickly stripped down to a black bathing suit and sank into the water, not looking to see if he was following until she was up to her neck in warmth. She’d just started to turn around to find him when hands gripped her sides, making her squeal. His deep chuckle behind her had her rolling her eyes. “And just what are your intentions, Mister Hotchner?”

Taking advantage of the water, Aaron lifted her and tugged her back until he was able to pull her backward onto his lap. He tucked his nose behind her ear. “My intentions are innocent.”

She leaned back into him, shifting her hips teasingly. “Somehow I don’t believe you.” She felt his answering chuckle vibrating in his chest. The water was crystal clear, so she was shocked when one of the hands on her waist came up and squeezed her breast. “Aaron.” She moaned, attempting to stop him.

“Hmm?” He hummed, squeezing again.

The massaging and gentle rocking carried on for some time before Penelope found herself getting surprisingly aroused. “You are so bad. You better not get us arrested.”

Aaron looked around and spotted a small cave that tucked behind the falls in the next pool. “Come here.” He helped her up, but not before taking advantage and slipping his other hand down to squeeze her ass. Leading her by her hand, they ducked into the small cave, Aaron pulling her against him before pushing the straps of her suit down her shoulders until her breasts popped out. “Perfect.” He declared before leaning in and sucking on one and then the other.

She couldn’t believe they were doing this here, but was too worked up to put a stop to it. Instead, she arched back and gripped his hair with her fingers and she called out. “Aaron.” She panted. “God, you make me so hot doing that.” She was thigh deep in warm water.

“Show me.” He tugged one hand out of her hair and guided it down her body, gently moving aside her suit and then pulling his own hand back above her wrist. “Show me how hot.” Aaron watched as Penelope began to circle her own clit, making herself moan. He was rock hard and getting harder, but he had no intention of touching her himself. Instead, he lowered himself to his knees, so he could suckle her breasts and kiss her stomach more.

Penelope was so turned on by the stimulation that she just desperately wanted release. Without much thought, she did something she hadn’t done in ages and pressed her two middle fingers into herself to begin fucking herself to orgasm and suddenly the hot spring vanished.

Aaron had his arms around her incase she swayed as he worked his hips and rubbed himself into a tizzy against the fabric of his trunks. Before the past week it had been way too long and the woman in his arms was so beautiful. H could tell he was close enough now that if they’d been on dry land, he’d have a decent damp spot starting on his pants. Tilting his head, Aaron watched as Penelope shoved her fingers into her depths in the clear water and let his free hand drop to start stroking himself desperately as he felt her go rigid. His stroked spend up to join her in her release until he realized she was totally still.

Looking up, Aaron realized she’d gone totally white and her eyes were squeezed shut. Standing quickly, he pulled her arms up and pulled her close. “Penelope, It’s me, Aaron. You’re okay. Penelope?” He held her and kept talking to her until a tremble ran through her body and she sagged into him. “Hey, let’s get you back into the other pool where we can sit down, come on.” He gently adjusted her swimwear and led her out and found them a place to sit. He was still rock hard and throbbing, but put it out of his mind as he tried to calm Penelope down. “Relax. Shh.” He rubbed her back.

Eventually, she blinked and looked around, the memory of what had just happened sinking in. “I’m sorry.”

He rubbed her arm again. “No, it’s okay.” Pressing a kiss to her hair, he asked. “Any idea what set it off?”

“Uhh…my fingers inside me I think. I haven’t done that since… Since before.” She turned in the water and curled against him, her hand accidentally landing on his hardness standing out in his lap, hidden by the broken surface of the water. “Oh! Oh my, Aaron, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay, don’t worry about it.” He tucked her hair behind her ear.

“But…” She wrapped her hand around him through his trunks and watched his eyes roll back. “You’re close.”

“I’ll be okay, just need some time.” His hips didn’t agree and canted up and into her hand. “God.” He bit back a moan with the swear.

“I can make you see god.” She whispered, leaning in to nip and his throat. “Just say the word.”

His eyes cracked open to check that their pool was still empty before he pulled her into a heated kiss when the hand around his dick began to stroke. He was hot all over, a mix of the water and his extended arousal, and he tried to fight it off, to postpone, until a twist of her wrist had him pulsing up into the fabric of his shorts. Blinking again as he came down, he gave her a goofy grin. “You’re right, I do see god.” He pulled her in for a kiss.

==

By the time they returned to their hotel room, Garcia was sore from the hike and was tired of hiding it. She limped into the room, tossed off her jacket and shoes and sank onto the bed with a pained groan. “I hurt.”

Aaron chuckled as he much more carefully put the bag and his things down on the desk. Searching the bathroom, he found a bottle of lotion and joined her. “Undress and I’ll give you a massage.”

Penelope twisted enough to eye him over her shoulder. “Massage, huh?”

He nodded.

She sighed dramatically. “Fine.” Before hauling herself up and stripping fully naked for the first time in front of him. The hungry way he stared at her body made her want to cover up but instead she just hurried back onto the bed. “Where do you want me?”

“In the middle, lay on your stomach.” He waited for her to get comfortable before he began massaging starting at her shoulders and working down. On a whim, many years ago, Aaron had managed to get some massage lessons to surprise Haley. She’d been delighted when she’d discovered his newly learned skill and often requested his services, with the enticement of a reward at the end. Aaron focused on the task and kept his mind rom wandering as he worked his way down her body to her calves and feet. The moans that Penelope started making as he worked sore muscles made it much harder to concentrate.

Nudging her once he was done, Aaron got her to roll onto her back and then he paused, taking her body in fully for the first time. He stared openly until she opened her eyes and stared back.

“Aaron?”

“Hmm.” His eyes lifted to hers. “Sorry.” He blushed.

“It’s okay.”

He settled again beside her. “Your so…beautiful.”

Penelope could feel the pink begin to spread across exposed flesh.

“I always knew you were beautiful, but this is… You’re just…” He swallowed as he tried to think of a better word. “Beautiful.” Embarrassed at his outburst, Aaron set to finishing the massage, taking care to not do anything that could cause a negative reaction. As he moved down her legs, she readjusted, her knees spreading apart slightly and he had to change positions to stay on the bed. He was drawn to her now open core and one hand moved up, his thumb ghosting over her clit and making her inhale.

She opened her eyes again and watched him lick his lip as he stared. “It’s okay.” She couldn’t believe she heard herself say. “I’ll tell you if something is wrong.” Despite the trauma she’d been through, Penelope did miss being touched and the look on his face told her he’d be gentle.

Unsure if he should proceed, Aaron moved so he was hovering over her, his knees between her thighs while his hands caged in her hips. Leaning forward, he started by pressing a gentle kiss to one side of her nub and then gently to the other before oh so carefully leaning in and pressing one to the nub itself. She smelled so wonderful, he worried he wouldn’t be able to hold himself in check. Finding a better position, he leaned in again, pressing his tongue flat against her folds, careful not to sink in even though he wanted to. Instead he let his nose tease along her opening until she was writing before him and then he moved back up and began to suck and tug on her clit in earnest until she was finally coming, opening herself up to him, her smell and fluids rushing out to meet him as he worked her through to the other side.

Penelope panted as she came back down, acutely aware that Hotch was still tucked between her thighs, she lifted her head to glance down, and staring at her core. “Wow.” She chuckled.

Aaron carefully pushed up and crawled up her body. “That was okay?”

“Yes.”

He pressed a kiss to her lips and she could just make out her own taste on him.

“Maybe one day…”

“Shh.” He cupped her cheek. “No rushing it. One day will arrive when it arrives.”

Penelope nodded and looked to change the subject. “Want to just order room service and stay in?”

“Sure.”


	11. Definition

For their fourth day on the road, the pair agreed to push on a bit further to make up for spending an extra day in Salt Lake City. The drive through the mountains had required both of their attention on the road as a storm blew up just as they were making their way through but by the time they were on the other side the weather had cleared, and Garcia found a silly game on her laptop for them to try and play. Aaron suspected that even when he answered right, she was cheating by occasionally entering the wrong answer so that she was winning.

Eventually, just past dinner time, they found a hotel right on the Colorado border and crashed for the night. This time when Aaron went to check in, he didn’t even bother with the pretense of a room with two beds and asked for one with a king. They’d been sharing a bed the past three nights anyway and he had a feeling something between them was…shifting.

He carried both of their begs up to the room and held the door open for her to enter, whatever this was and for however long it was meant to last, Aaron had no intention of cutting it short due to bad manners. “I know it’s a little late, but what do you say to freshening up and going out to eat?”

Penelope turned to answer and was momentarily taken aback by his sudden nervousness. Putting on a teasing smile, she batted her eyes at him. “Why, Aaron, are you asking me on a date?”

He could feel his skin flame red. “I, uhh…” He stuttered.

Taking pity, she took his hand. “It sounds lovely, just give me a few minutes.”

And he watched her vanish into the bathroom, he wondered exactly where was available in this town to eat.

==

It had turned out that the best he could find had been a steakhouse, but Aaron wasn’t deterred. The meat had been tender, the food hot and the drinks cold and by the time they crawled back into the room, both were so full they could barely move. As they stripped down and crawled under the covers, he heard Penelope say. “That was wonderful, but next time I expect candles and champagne.”

As she fell into a doze beside him, Aaron was suddenly wide awake at the thought that she expected there to be a next time.

==

Penelope had noticed when they’d woke that morning that Aaron was distracted. When she tried to ask him if everything was okay, he’d quickly plaster on a smile and say he was fine, but she wasn’t buying it. Letting it go for the time being, she instead found some interesting information about the road they were on and shared it with Aaron, finding even more bizarre facts to share and laugh about.

They made a few small stops along the way, finding a diner that Penelope had declared adorable on site and several small mom and pop coffee shops to keep the caffeine flowing. When they cleared Omaha, Penelope suggested that it was still early enough to make it to Des Moines before it got to late, so Aaron stopped at a gas station off the interstate to fill up while Garcia headed inside.

Once he was done with the car, Aaron looked around and frowned. The station wasn’t particularly busy, but he couldn’t see Penelope anywhere. Locking the doors, he headed inside to find her and still came up empty. “Excuse me.” He approached the man behind the counter. “My friend came in here a few minutes ago, blonde hair wearing a red dress?”

The man nodded and pointed toward the back without saying a word.

“Thanks.” Aaron was only half sincere as he headed down the aisles, looking over the tops as he went. “Penelope?”

“Aaron!” Her voice finally called out, sounding a hair too eager to see him. “There he is now.” He heard her say to someone.

As he stepped around the end of the aisle, Aaron first noticed that her eyes were just a little wider than normal, a sign she was scared and trying to hide it. “What’s going on?” He stopped, pulling up to his full height as his eyes landed on a dirty, overweight man boxing her into the corner.

The man eyed Hotch. “We’s just talkin’.”

Aaron stepped forward and gently took Penelope’s arm, pulling her to him. “Then it’s no problem if I take her with me then.” He began to guide her away.

“Hey!” He man wasn’t amused and tried to grab her as well. “Who’re you to be just draggin’ her away?”

Penelope opened her mouth to answer but Aaron beat her to it, snapping back as he stepped up to challenge the man. “Her husband.”

The man hesitated before backing away a step. “I’m sorry. Didn’t mean to cause no trouble.”

The pair waited until the man was out of view before Aaron carefully and silently escorted her back to the car. Once the car was in gear, he turned to her. “I’m sorry, back there. It seemed like the fastest way to get him to back off.”

“It’s okay, Aaron. Believe me…you have no idea how many nights I’ve dreamed of having someone there to stand up for me.” She didn’t elaborate until they were on the interstate again. “Before I left, I thought I’d always been on my own, you know? So how hard would it be to move and be on my own somewhere else. Here I thought I was this independent woman and it turned out I was very used to having all of you guys, especially the guys, around to look out for me. The night…” Her voice caught until his hand reached across and took hers. “The night I was attached… I had gone to dinner and a movie on my own and was walking home. I’d never thought about it before that night but then suddenly… Suddenly these men are hurting me and violating me, and I realized that I couldn’t just call one of you to come help me or save me. No one knew where I was or who I was… I was bleeding and a mess.” She tried to hold back a sob until the hand in hers squeezed, seeming to force the tears out. “I was so scared and so, so alone.”

“But not anymore.” He responded when she had seemed to cry herself out. “Even then, you could have called me, Penelope. No matter what, okay?”

She nodded. “Okay.”


	12. Small Town Night Out

The following day, Penelope was surprised when, in Davenport, Iowa, Aaron turned south onto a different interstate instead of continuing eat. “Where are we going?”

He smiled and patted her hand. “We have all the time in the world and it’s only a little out of the way. I promise, you’re going to love it.”

‘It’, it turned out, was a seven hundred and twenty-five square foot suite almost thirty stories up overlooking downtown Springfield. Penelope stood at the windows of their room and just stared out. She could see the capital buildings and much of downtown. “Wow.”

“That’s not all.” He watched as she flitted about from the kitchen area to the dining room and then to the living room with it’s large windows before heading back to the bedroom.

“What do you mean it’s not all?”

“Check the closet.” He called out, choosing not to follow her for the moment.

Her squeal re-entered the main room before she did, carrying a deep blue formal dress. “What is this?”

“You wanted champagne and candles. I remembered from a conference here years ago that there is an awesome restaurant whose history goes back to the eighteen hundreds and their food is the best. I called in a couple favors.”

“Wait… We’re going there? Tonight?”

He smiled and nodded. “Our reservation is in about three hours.”

“Three… oh my gosh!” She whirled around. “I need to start getting ready!” When Aaron started to follow her into the bedroom, she pushed him back. “Oh, no. I don’t have time for distractions. Go… watch a movie or something.”

Aaron laughed but did what he was told and found something else to occupy his time.

==

When Penelope stepped out at twenty to seven, Aaron was speechless. “Wow.”

“You chose well.” She looked down at the dress. “Are we driving?”

“No. It’s only a very short walk to the next block, even in the chill we should be fine.” He pulled on his suit jacket and offered her his arm. “Shall we?”

==

The walk had been short, and Penelope was in love with the old-style restaurant and the almost-but-not-quite private booth Aaron had managed to reserve. His proper southern upbringing came out as he carefully ordered their wine and then her meal as well as his and Penelope absolutely loved it, telling him as much softly once the waiter had gone away, delighted to see it make him blush.

After dinner, Aaron kindly turned down dessert and passed the kind waiter his credit card before finally escorting Penelope back out onto the sidewalk. They were only a few storefronts into their short walk back to the hotel when Aaron felt her shiver. Stopping, he shed his suit jacket and draped it over her shoulders, gently freeing her hair from under the collar. Her cheeks were already turning pink and her eyes seemed to sparkle a bit more in the streetlights. It compelled him to cup her cheeks with his hands and brush the gentlest of kisses to her lips. They stood together, only a breath between them, until a car beeping its horn in the traffic broke the spell.

Pulling back, Aaron offered her his arm and carefully led them the rest of the way back to the hotel. Just before they crossed the street, he noticed her eyes catch on something in a window and turned to have a look at well. It was a jewelry store, a local place, not a chain. Taking in the display quickly, he turned so they were staring straight into the window, wrapping his arms round her. He placed a kiss into her curled hair. “None is as bright as you.”

He felt her breath catch. “Oh, Aaron.”

“Come on, the night isn’t over yet.” They finished their journey back to the hotel but instead of heading straight up to their room, Penelope followed him all of the way to the Lounge at the top of the building. The windows were slanted, offering wonderful views of the town below.

Penelope barely even noticed as a waiter led them to a semi-private table, too taken with the view of the streets shining almost gold in the darkness and the capital building all lit up. “It’s even prettier here at night.”

Aaron had to nod in agreement. “It has that small-town charm with a bit of the bigger city look.”

“Sometimes big city is overrated.” She was surprised when drinks were placed on their table. “Oh! Thank you!”

Sipping his scotch, Aaron silently agreed. He’d grown up in a little town just outside a bigger one and there had always been an appeal to the laid-back ways of small southern towns. “You ever lived in a small town?”

“No.” She shook her head. “Suburbs, but never a small town.”

“It takes some getting used to I guess. Going from a small town to a major city did anyway.”

She turned and studied him a minute. “Do you miss it? Home I mean.”

He had to think about that a minute. “Maybe on occasion. I miss the way they decorated for Christmas and the festival for the Fourth of July.”

“You ever go back?”

“Not since Mother died.” He caught her eyes widening the tiniest bit and gave her a curious look.

“Oh, please repeat that again.” She asked, breathlessly.

“Not since Mother died.” He heard it that time and ducked his head.

Penelope reached across the small table and placed her hand on his. “I always suspected, you know. I mean, there were times… If you were overly tired or exceptionally angry, but…Don’t feel embarrassed about it. I like it.”

Aaron took another sip of his drink as he processed his words. “Wait. You’ve heard the accent before?”

She smiled and nodded, humming affirmative. “We all have, Sweetie. Just like there were times Rossi’s came out more or…” She shrugged. “Em always pronounced certain words a bit different, Jay too.”

Suddenly a bit self-conscious, Aaron smoothed his tie down. “I… I thought I lost it.”

“Nope, sorry.”

==

Drinks gone, the pair returned to their room. Penelope waited until Aaron had followed her into the bedroom before turning her back to him and pulling her hair to one side. “Would you unzip me?” She asked over the other shoulder.

Aaron stepped up behind her, letting his hands rest on her shoulders a moment before carefully, slowly, pulling the tiny zipper down to where it finished at the top of her ass. Every inch exposed more of her milky white skin to him and only once he was done did he realize her back was now fully bare.

Penelope turned, her hand was holding the front of the dress in place still, it was the only thing keeping the garment from simply falling to the floor.

He wasn’t sure if he was breathing anymore. Almost without his permission, a hand can up and gently pulled hers away and he watched as the midnight blue fabric swirled to the floor around her ankles, leaving her completely bare. “Oh.” He breathed in. “You’re so…” He couldn’t find the right word to finish.

Stepping out of her dress, Penelope closed the distance between them and began undressing him. So focused on her task of carefully removing his suit, that she hadn’t even realized he’d been watching her until she looked up from where she was now seated at his feet, the dark need in his eyes only momentarily distracting her from her first actual look as his cock. Her tongue darted out and licked her bottom lip. It wasn’t like she had a whole lot of experience with different men, there had been several steady boyfriends over the years, but very little in the way of one-night stands. With her former job, she knew the dangers all too well. But this, she could smell him, the warm scent of his arousal and when his left hand gripped it, pulling slowly along its surface, her mouth went dry. She wanted a taste, to know if it was as warm as his smell. Glancing around the room, she realized that Aaron was standing at the foot of the bed, so gently, she nudged his hips until he sat, knees falling open in invitation.

Her lips wrapping around his head caused them both to gasp. She peered up and was witness to the sight of Aaron with his head thrown back, mouth open. Pressing her tongue to the bottom of his cock, she took him in as far as she could, using her hand to make up the difference and she set a rhythm of sucking and stroking until Aaron was a trembling, panting mess.

He gripped her shoulders. “Stop. I… Not like this. Not tonight.” He panted. “God I’m so close.” He felt his dick throb as she pulled off. He could have come right then, but he wanted this night to go just a little differently. Tugging her up, he focused on finding the pillows and settling her where he wanted her. Reaching into the side table to find what he’d discretely dropped in there while getting ready earlier in the evening, Aaron pulled out a condom and carefully rolled it on, holding the base of his cock to keep from exploding in his hand. After a moment, he returned to her and positioned himself over her. “I want to try something. I promise I’m not going to do anything you’re uncomfortable with, okay? If you don’t like it, just tell me.”

She nodded. “Okay.”

Aaron situated himself so his dick was pressed between the cheeks of her ass and the bed. Carefully, he began to stroke and grind against her, loving the little sounds she began to make through their kissing. When he was again close, he pressed a thumb against her clit and began to circle it, making her writhe beneath him. Pulling up, he tucked his nose to her ear. “I need to come.”

“I’m close.” She gasped. “I’m…” Her body arched as the first hard waves of her climax rolled through her. She could feel his hot dick grinding against her folds, making her hotter and wetter even as she came. “Come for me, Baby.” She forced out, raising her knees and allowing her hips to change position. She could feel the moment, just as he began to come, filling the condom that separated them, when the head of his dick just barely pressed against her, not quite in. And instead of fear and panic rushing to fill her, she felt the tremors of aftershocks.

As they both came down from their climaxes, Aaron rolled out of bed and padded to the bathroom to dispose of the condom and clean up. When he returned, he found Penelope half asleep, still spread out naked in the bed. He began to pull on pajamas when she spoke up.

“No, please? Just us tonight. I think our clothes can keep the bags warm enough.” When she saw him consider and then nod in agreement, she finally pulled herself out of bed. “I need to wash my face and things. I’ll be right back.”

Aaron was dozing lightly when the bed shifted as she crawled in. He felt a kiss brush across his lips before her soft voice continued. “You’re wonderful.”

==

Morning light beamed in their windows, waking Penelope in Aaron’s arms. She blinked awake, enjoying the feel of him wrapped around her. Snuggling back, she felt his morning erection against her ass and pressed into it, making him inhale sharply.

After a minute, Aaron spoke, voice gravelly. “Good morning.”

She reached between them and gripped his member. “Very good morning.”

Her hand around him had his eyes rolling back. “You’re going to be the death of me.”

Grinning, Penelope rolled to face him. “Death by sex…not a bad way to go.”

A growl rumbled in his chest before he pulled her close, causing her to yelp and then giggle and he rubbed his scruff against her neck. None of their play was helping his erection, but right now he didn’t care. It was there and if they got to carried away, then he’d just have to deal with it in one way or another. They played and tumbled in the bed, tickling and teasing until he could feel precome against his stomach and damp spots on the sheets and Penelope’s skin. Aaron felt like his skin was on fire, a single touch in the right place and he’d be done. A hard kiss to his lips brought him out of his momentary reverie and he smiled up at her, straddling his stomach. Her core was leaving its own wet spots on his skin, telling him she was just as aroused.

Her blue eyes were dark with need and she leaned over him, her breasts almost touching his chest and her hair creating a curtain, blocking their faces from the outside world. “Will you touch me? I want to try to feel you in me.”

“What? Penelope, no. You’re not ready.” He would have protested more, but her warm hand was around his dick, stroking a perfect beat sure to make him explode any second. He dug his heels into the mattress and ground his teeth. “Penny!”

“Touch me.” She kept it up and he couldn’t help but obey, one hand on a breast and the other working her nub.

He felt a tremor in her body and knew she was just as close as he was. The heat pooling in his hips was swelling in his dick, his heels were surely going to leave permanent dents in the bed. Right at the moment before he erupted, her hand vanished and he cried out in despair and then there was a tight, wet heat around him and it was pulsing in time with her cries and he was frozen, arched, ass off the sheets as he came so hard the room around them seemed to vanish completely.

When the room returned to normal, Aaron opened his eyes to the sight of Penelope still straddling him, leaned back against his knees. At their joining, he could see where his still hard dick vanished inside of her. He knew he wouldn’t be up for another round by any means, but he’d never been the type to instantly soften after sex and judging by the look in Penelope’s eyes, she wasn’t exactly complaining. “Not that I’m complaining.” He panted. “But what brought that about?”

Starting to feel sore, she leveraged herself up and off him. “I think it’s only hands specifically that are the problem. Last night… You almost ended up inside me by accident and I realized that I wasn’t getting freaked out.”

He thought a minute. “That’s…good?”

“I think so. I’m going to hop in the shower.”

“Okay.” He watched her go. He still held the opinion that she needed to talk to someone, but maybe it would be something she could work past after all.

==

At a tiny diner that had been recommended to them later that morning, Aaron stared over their cups of coffee at the blonde. “If we aim for Columbus today and stay the night, then tomorrow night we will be home.”

“Really?”

He nodded. “It’s twelve hours or so back to Quantico from here, Columbus is about halfway.”

“Oh.” She stared into her white china mug.

“Hey.” He took her fingers in his. “What’s up?”

“I- I have nowhere to stay. I gave up everything when I left. I even sold my…” Her voice caught.

“I have a secret.” He waited for her to look up before he pulled out his phone and thumbed through photos. When he found the right one, he turned his phone around on the table and watched her face.

“Oh! Is that…” She lit up. “You have Esther?”

He nodded and smiled and then laughed when she hurried around the table to wrap him in a hug.

“Oh, I always knew you were a true knight!” She sat just as the waitress brought their plates, piled high with breakfast.


	13. Home

The stay in Ohio had been nothing, to Penelope, compared to their detour in Illinois. She was still blushing at the memories and banishing any worry about it all coming to an end from her mind as they reached familiar countryside. A hand reaching across and taking hers startled her.

“Almost home.” Aaron said.

“Yeah.” There was a waiver now in her voice.

“Hey.” He almost-whispered. “What’s wrong?”

“Were we… Was this just for the trip?”

He’d been secretly asking himself the same thing. “I hope not.” He gave her hand a squeeze. “I have felt something for you for a really long time. I’m not sure what I would name it, but when I went away? It was you I found myself missing the most.” He was quite for another mile. “How about we don’t make any decisions just yet and see how it goes?”

“Yeah.”

“For now, you’re welcome to stay with me and Jack. And that can be in whatever sense you’re comfortable with. I have spare rooms, or you can stay with me. Even though you seemed to do okay yesterday morning, I still think it’s very important you see someone. Your first priority needs to be healing yourself, not worrying about me. Okay?”

She nodded. “Okay.” As she began to see familiar places, her hand came up to almost cover the scar on her face.

“Hey.” He repeated, tugging her hand down. “I don’t even see it when I look at you. And no one else’s opinion matters. You are beautiful.”

==

Penelope had wandered Aaron’s home as he vanished somewhere inside. Curiosity finally brought her to the open doorway of his office and she stopped, just watching him as he sat behind his large desk while talking on the phone.

“Yeah… I brought her home, she’s okay.” He listened to whoever was on the other end. “I’ll talk to her about it, but don’t mention anything unless she’s up for it. No need overwhelming her… Yeah, she was. I thought there was someone that was off the day we left, but we were leaving so I’m not sure she even knew.” He sank back into his large chair, rubbing his face with he free hand. “It was a long drive, for both of us so…give me a few days? Jack will be back any minute and we all just need time. I’m glad you called me though, not sure what I would have done if something worse had happened beyond some of the things she’s already been through… No, I’m not elaborating…” He sighed. “I offered for her to stay with me for now… Who knows if it is or not, we’re just going to play it by ear.” He blushed deep red. “Yes, my bed is an option available…If that’s the way this line of questioning is going to go, I’m hanging up. You have nothing to back it up to question me further.”

Penelope thought she heard the tinny sound of a female barking out a laugh as Aaron ended the call and tossed his phone aside.

When he looked up, he was surprised to see her standing there. “Hey. I just got off the phone with Emily. She wanted to know when we were back.”

“Oh. Did something happen?”

He stared at his silent phone a moment. “One of the suspects I suggested could be after you? The traffickers? Apparently two men broke into your apartment the night after we left California. Obviously, they found nothing, but when the cops showed up, the men were found with several weapons and their names pinged the Trafficking Unit who discovered they were already advertising loosely your sale. From what they’ve been able to gather, all they knew was you were a hacker and had disrupted their supply chain. No name, no gender even, so as long as you keep out of it, you should be safe now.”

“Oh.” She remained in the doorway. “Was that all?”

“Emily wants to see you, Dave too it sounds like. Probably the others. I can convince most of them to give you time, but once Dave knows you’re here, he’ll probably stop by.”

“Okay.” She wasn’t really ready to face her friends after vanishing like she did, but knew it would have to happen eventually. “Are they going to hate me?”

Aaron stood and crossed the room to her, wrapping her in a hug. “They won’t hate you. And I’ll be right here with you as everything get sorted out. Okay?”

“Yeah.” She tipped her face up to him. “Okay.”

Aaron leaned in and pressed a kiss to her lips.


End file.
